Ten
by pillowhisper
Summary: Ten chapters of a blossoming love.
1. Chapter 1

AN: I remembered that I wrote this a while ago. Finally took the time to complete this. Enjoy.

One

Hinata walked at a leisurely pace down the city street. It was a crisp autumn evening and the rusty maple leaves seemed to waltz into the sunset. All around her, people were rushing about to make it home before supper was set. Among the rush of pedestrians and honking cars, her slow gait made her seem almost frozen in time. She was in no hurry. She had spent the afternoon at the campus library and wouldn't be back until nighttime anyways. Besides, there was nobody waiting for her in her flat anyways. She maneuvered her foot a tiny step to the right and the satisfying _crunch_ of a maple leaf could be heard underneath her boots.

She was headed for the coffeehouse just around the corner to meet her project partner. The assignment was simple, just a report on current economic theories and it was due on Monday. Over the course of the week she and her partner, Sasuke Uchiha, had merely exchanged emails on the project, dividing up the work and whatnot. The class itself was rather large, with over two hundred people in the lecture. The professor had simply emailed everyone with a list outlining everybody's project partners and their respected emails for the academic quarter. Each partner was expected to complete a report for each week of the academic quarter. Up to her third year of college was she blessed to have avoided classes that required group work. Only through emails was Hinata able to draw some assumptions about Sasuke Uchiha and she wasn't able to assume much. His emails were very curt and to-the-point, which didn't leave much clues for Hinata to judge. But he seemed to know what he was talking about, and he seemed competent enough.

Hinata Hyuuga was uncomfortable with group projects, to say the least. All too many times throughout junior and high school had she faced incompetent project partners. All too many times she had to do all the work herself while knowing her partners would receive equal credit. And then there were those partners that just could not contribute significantly no matter the effort. Hinata would end up doing more than her fair share merely to avoid the poor marks they were sure to receive had they used the material her partners didn't give a rat's ass to conjure up. At that point, Hinata didn't even mind doing the entire project anymore. It would have been much less work than to fix everybody else's mistakes. Hinata breathed in a refreshing breath of air. She had always wanted to speak up for herself, but she was just too nice. Nice. Everybody had used that word to describe her. She had always wanted to speak up for herself, to tell the teacher that she did more than necessarily. It's not that she wanted for her group mates to receive a lower score, oh heavens no! She simply wanted some recognition for her work. Hinata sighed. Maybe everyone was right. Maybe she was too nice.

She stopped walking as she had noticed that she had arrived at the coffeehouse. Very often was she absorbed in her own thoughts that time and space seemed to warp altogether in a dream. Hinata checked her phone for the time. 4:49 PM. She was early. Their meeting wasn't until another eleven minutes. Hinata decided to grab a table first and wait inside. They had decided to meet, but how was she able to recognize him? They had only exchanged emails. What if he never showed up and she was left with all the work—

"Excuse me."

Hinata turned around and nearly bumped into the young man behind her. Standing what seemed like an entire head above her own, his coal eyes gazed down at her small frame. His entire demeanor seemed, well…dark. His sharp black hair framed his chiseled face rather delicately and the black eyes that were staring at her seemed to pierce into her very own. His features contrasted sharply with his ivory skin.

"Are you Hinata Hyuuga?" His voice was cool and calm, like summer rain, but with an absence of warmth.

"W-what?" Hinata blinked back into the present moment.

"Are you Hinata Hyuuga?"

He must be Sasuke?!

"I'm her—she's me. Are you Sasuke Uchiha?"

"Hn. Let's go inside."

Hinata noted his curt demeanor— _just like in the emails._ The duo walked into the warm coffeehouse. The small coffeehouse was less crowded than usual due to the upcoming weekend. A humble fireplace was situated on one side of the room. Plush armchairs surrounded the fireplace and a few were scattered among the small table and chair sets in the room. The dim lights blanketed the coffeehouse in a beautiful rustic gold that seemed to have originated from the autumn sunset itself. The two settled for a table for two in the corner.

"Ah, Sasuke, I am going to get something to drink. Would you like anything?" Hinata set her belongings down and removed her jacket.

"Coffee. Black."

"Ah, okay. I will be right back."

Hinata maneuvered through the familiar arrangement of the coffeehouse to the cashier and bar at the back of the room. The coffeehouse was like a second home to her as she usually graced it with her presence almost every day of the week.

"Hinata! How are you today?" The bright red-eyed woman behind the counter greeted her with a bright smile.

"Hello, Kurenai. I'm good, thank you for asking. How's the baby?"

Kurenai rubbed the promising bump beneath her brown apron and laughed. She and her husband ran the coffeehouse for years now. Hinata had frequented the coffeehouse enough to witness some of its big changes. Kurenai had bought the small space for a heavily discounted price some years back in the hopes of turning it into a newly blossoming business. During one of the construction phases, she had met Asuma, a construction worker from the small company she hired. And well, the rest was history.

"She's definitely a kicker. So what can I get our favorite customer?"

"One jasmine green tea and one black coffee please."

"Oh, a black coffee? Is this for that handsome young man you're with?" Kurenai gave a sly wink to the now blushing girl.

"O-oh it's nothing like that. We're just working on a school project!"

Kurenai gave a hearty laugh before going to fetch the drinks as Hinata pulled out her wallet.

"Don't worry about it, dear. This one's on us."

Hinata smiled in gratitude and headed back to the table, two drinks in hand.

Sasuke had set up his laptop and laid out the paperwork while Hinata had been gone. Hinata set the coffee down for him.

"Hn. Thank you." He said, pulling out his wallet and taking out a five dollar bill.

"Oh, don't worry about it. It's on house."

He looked up and raised an inquisitive eyebrow before returning his gaze to the paperwork in front of him.

"Alright, let's get this started. I want to finish everything by the time the shop closes. I'll look over the articles and go through some databases for more supporting research. You can open the word document and write the abstract, or at least the beginning of one."

"E-excuse me?" Hinata stared at the boy who had already began shifting through the piles of paper.

"What is it? Do you need help? I can write the abstract if that's too much for you. Maybe you can come up with a clever title—"

"O-Oh. I can finish the abstract just fine, but that seems like very little work. I have some free time on my hands and I really don't mind doing more."

Sasuke sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Look, if you want to give the impression that you'll contribute, don't worry about it. Hyuuga, I can handle this and you honestly don't have to feel guilty or anything. I've dealt with this too many times and I will guarantee us a good grade."

Hinata scrunched her eyebrows at his use of her surname.

"Sasuke, with all due respect, this is as much of my project as it is yours. I will write the abstract, but I will also help you with the research."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. None of his previous project partners had even offered to help out after his short spiel.

"Fine, Hyuuga."

The two worked in near silence for the remainder of the coffee shop's opening hours.

-x-

"…and that will be it for today's lecture. Next week, we will cover…"

Sasuke tapped his pen impatiently. This was the last class of the week and all he wanted to do was go home and take a nap. He went over the things he needed to do that day. Nap, read the next textbook chapter, cook dinner—speaking of which, his fridge was near empty and he probably needed to go grocery shopping soon—

Sasuke's train of thought was broken off as he heard his name from the front of the classroom.

"…Uchiha and Hinata Hyuuga, please see me after class. Thank you all and have a wonderful afternoon."

What could the professor possibly want to see them for? Sasuke sighed and began packing his notes away. He probably should have double-checked her work. It seemed alright last week when he went over it, but then he had just pulled an all-nighter the previous night. Sasuke internally groaned as he made his way to the front, recognizing a familiar shade of deep violet hair. Hinata seemed visibly more worried than he. Her eyebrows were scrunched in confusion and she clutched her notebook protectively in front of her.

"Oh hello, you two. Thank you for coming to speak with me. This won't take long, I assure you. I just wanted to commend you both on your group project. Spectacularly researched and beautifully written. I will look forward to more of your work in the future. If you two are interested in further research opportunities, don't hesitate to give me a call. The comparison to the previous century's economic theory was particularly well written. A job well done to the both of you."

Sasuke looked over at the petite girl next to him and found her eyes to match his in surprise.

"T-Thank you, professor Tsunade!" The girl squeaked.

"Hn. Thank you."

Sasuke's eyes were focused on dark violet as he made his way out of the lecture hall. Perhaps the Hyuuga wasn't as bad as he had thought. The comparison to past economic theories was her idea, in fact. Sasuke was never the one to admit defeat in anything, and he wasn't about to admit that perhaps he had found someone up to par with himself.

"Hyuuga."

"Yes, Uchiha?"

Sasuke found himself involuntarily smirking at hearing her use his last name.

"See you next week."


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Disclaimer: don't own Naruto nor any of the characters, etc. I'm just a poor college student. Hope you all enjoy this! Sorry for long update lag.

Two

"…see you all next week and don't forget about your papers."

Sasuke packed his bags and scanned the lecture hall for Hinata. They needed to schedule their next project meetup. Finally finding the familiar shade of dark violet at the front of the hall, Sasuke made his way down the stairs to meet her. He kept his gaze on her as she packed up her bags and turned around, scanning the lecture hall herself. _Probably looking for me_. Light lavender met dark coal as both gazes made contact. Hinata smiled in greeting and Sasuke found himself averting his gaze, like a kid caught stealing cookies from the cookie jar. Why was he averting his gaze?

 _This is silly_ , thought Sasuke.

Sasuke looked back up again. _Wait, where did she go?_

Raising his eyebrows, Sasuke scanned the area where she had just been. _She was just there…_

Seeing violet from his peripherals, Sasuke shifted his gaze to the lecture hall floor. _There she was, sitting on the floor?_ Her books were scattered around her and she was sitting on her butt, knees up. _Did she fall?_

Sasuke mentally rolled his eyes before noticing a shock of yellow and orange on the ground next to her.

-x-

Hinata rubbed her palms together. Luckily, she was able to break her fall in time.

"Eyy! I am so sorry!"

The young man had already gotten up onto his knees and was holding a hand out to her. He had striking blonde hair and sun-kissed skin that only added insult to injury to his bright-orange t-shirt. Hinata looked into cerulean eyes and felt her cheeks tingle with a rising blush. His outreached hand was still inviting her own and she found herself accepting the stranger's assistance. His hand was hot to the touch and he pulled her up with more force than necessary and she found herself toppling into his rather firm chest. The slight blush on her face must have tripled in intensity.

"Wow, you're lighter than I expected. You're not hurt, are you?!"

"A-ah! Not at all!" Hinata stammered.

The young man held her shoulder apologetically. "I am so sorry! I was in a rush and wasn't watching where I was going!"

"It's really fine!"

"Naruto, what are you doing with _my_ project partner?"

Hinata looked towards the source of the voice and met a pair of black eyes gazing directly into hers. Sasuke was standing behing… _Naruto_ , was it?

"Sasuke, you're in this class too? I'm not doing anything! I accidentally ran into her, but she's fine, right?"

Naruto's eyes met hers again and unable to find the words, she merely nodded.

"So you two know each other?" Naruto once again extended his hand out to Hinata. "The name's Naruto! Naruto Uzumaki! Nice to meet you!"

"H-Hinata Hyuuga."

"Listen, I'm really sorry about me knocking you over. I feel really bad about it since you already have this asshole as a project partner."

Hinata flinched as Sasuke smacked Naruto's back, but the blonde didn't seem to notice.

"How about we all go to ramen sometime, my treat!"

"It's really alright, Naruto. I'm fine! You really don't need to."

"Don't worry about it, Hinata! I've been meaning to catch up with the jerk anyways. Are you two free for dinner tonight? Ichiraku has happy hour at six!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "No, we have a project to work on."

"Aww, Sasuke! Don't be a downer!" Naruto crossed his arms over his chest.

"Actually, I wouldn't mind that. Sasuke, we can work on the project later, if that's okay with you. I have some more free time tomorrow, anyways.

Sasuke sighed in frustration and ran his hand through his hair. "Fine."

"Great!" Naruto grabbed both of Hinata's hands. "It's nice meeting you, Hinata! I'll see you at six today!" Naruto smacked Sasuke's shoulder before rushing out of the hall. Hinata blushed once again and stared at the door he had stormed past just seconds before.

"Tch. He can be a really be an idiot sometimes."

Sasuke leaned down and picked up the remainder of Hinata's scattered textbooks—the ones she had completely forgotten about during the short ordeal.

"Here."

"A-Ahh, thank you, Sasuke."

"Hn."

-x-

"…and that's why I want to be president!"

Hinata stared at the wonder of a boy in front of her. She was seated next to a bored looking Sasuke and across from the energetic Naruto. He was on his third bowl of ramen and the end was nowhere in sight. He had a piece of seaweed sandwiched between his two front teeth and spoke while chewing. But above all, his energy was absolutely contagious. Had it a human vessel, the sun would have surely picked this boy. Hinata couldn't help but find herself smiling while he talked on and on.

"Ey, so Hinata, what are your dreams?"

Hinata blushed as his eager blue eyes awaited her answer.

"U-Um…Let's see. I want to start my own business, actually. Probably just a small pharmaceutical store focused on natural herbs…"

"Wow! That's so cool!"

"T-Thank you!" Hinata squeaked. Ignoring her rising blush, she stared down at her ramen and let the smallest of smiles escape.

"Man, I'm sure glad that you're in the same class as me. I hate econ and I sure could use some help."

Sasuke rolled his eyes again. "Who says we'll help you, dork? We have our own project to work on."

"Aw, Sasuke, don't be like that! You know how Ino can be. She doesn't want to do any of the hard work so she leaves it to me! C'mon! Hinata, you'll help me, won't you?"

Hinata looks up at the grinning boy in front of her and her heart seems to skip a few beats.

"O-Of course." Hinata fights back a blush and averts his smiling gaze.

Sasuke rolls his eyes. "Hinata, we only have a little bit left on our project. Let's just finish it tonight."

"Oh, okay." Hinata reached for her wallet.

"Didn't you say you were treating, Naruto?" Sasuke stood up and draped his messenger bag over his shoulder.

"Did I? But Jiraiya hasn't paid me yet! Sasuke, can you cover this time? I promise I got it next time!"

"Tch, fine. Hinata, let's go."

"Bye, Naruto. I'll see you in class."

"Bye, Hinata! Let me know if that jerk ever gives you any trouble!"

-x-

Sasuke walked in the direction of the school parking lot. His projects with Hinata had been going fairly well and he had been meaning to talk to Professor Tsunade about research opportunities. She was fully capable of keeping up with his work ethic—a rarity among his peers, he concluded.

A streak of orange at the base of his peripherals caught his eye. And while normally uncaring for Naruto's presence, Sasuke found his attention instead shift to the purple to his right…and under his arm?

The blonde had one arm around her shoulders and she was laughing at an apparent joke he had made. Her laugh is kind of … _pleasant._

"Hey, dork."

The pair turned around and Naruto dropped his arm from her petite form.

"Hey, asshole! What are you doing here?"

"I go to this school. What are you two doing?"

"Oh! Hinata was tutoring me on econ. We just finished up and we're gonna go out for ramen again. Do you wanna come?"

Sasuke didn't miss the flash of disappointment in Hinata's eye at Naruto's invitation. Sasuke's eye twitched as he imagined Naruto talking about running for president for the hundredth time. He hated ramen but he didn't immediately turn down the offer. Why was Naruto hanging out with _his_ project partner anyways? Didn't he have anyone else to go to? Why would she care if he went- _oh_. The blushes, the stammering, the look in her eyes. It all made sense now. Sasuke ignored the tinge of annoyance tugging somewhere in his chest and diverted his eyes away from the couple.

"Tch. No thanks. I have a lot of work to catch up on."

"Aww c'mon! You're never behind on work!"

"I said no thanks. Bye dork." Sasuke walked passed the two and continued on his way to the parking lot, again ignoring the strangest urge to go back and intrude on their…date?

-x-

Hinata stared at the ground as she walked a half-step behind and to the side of Naruto. Being as tall as he is, his strides took at least two of hers and Hinata often found herself skipping a bit to catch up. Not that he noticed. The boy made of sunshine seemed to exuberate energy from the core of his being. Every step he took was powerful and purposeful. And when he spoke, he seemed to light up the world—or _her_ world, at least. He was a powerful speaker and charismatic speaker and Hinata found herself clinging to every word. No mind that he had already told her some of his wild stories. No mind that he was sharing his dream to be president for the fifth time. The sound of his voice seemed to fill her up with warmth and Hinata then wondered whether she had the capacity of being such a loud presence. Hinata was almost silent, with the exception of a few giggles here and the occasional "Uh huh" there, on their entire walk to Ichiraku Ramen, not that she minded.

"We're here!"

The two were quickly seated and the ramen followed shortly after. Naruto proved to be a messy eater and Hinata had to swerve her head a few times to avoid being struck by a stray noodle. Hinata picked at her food, being more entranced by Naruto himself.

"You know, it's weird that Sasuke didn't come. He usually never turns me down."

"Have you known each other for long?"

"Yeah, me and Sasuke go way back! We're best friends but Sasuke will never say this out loud."

Hinata giggled.

"Hey listen, Hinata, Sasuke is a great guy underneath the Mr. Moody and everything. He just doesn't like normal human interaction y'know. It might be difficult to work with him at first but I'm sure you'll warm up to him." Naruto gave a cheeky grin.

"Sasuke's not difficult to work with, actually. He gets a lot of things done." Hinata smiled at the blonde.

"Well, that's great to hear! And Hinata, thanks so much for offering to help me with econ. I'll treat you out to ramen next week too!"

Hinata nodded in agreement. The sun was particularly bright that day.

-x-

 _tap tap tap_

 _tap tap tap_

Sasuke's left eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

 _tap tap tap_

 _tap tap tap_

Hinata was sitting across from him at the coffeehouse, their usual meeting place.

 _tap tap tap_

Normally, the two of them would work in silence and everything that needed to be done would be done in a time efficient manner. But Sasuke couldn't concentrate properly. Why? The girl next to him just would not stop tapping her pen. And when she wasn't tapping her pen she was staring at her phone.

 _tap tap tap_

Was she even getting anything done?

 _tap tap tap_

If she tapped that pen one more ti— _tap tap ta_ —

"Stop."

Hinata looked up and met two agitated black orbs staring back at her.

"W-what?"

"Stop tapping your pen. It's distracting me."

"Ah. Sorry, Sasuke." Hinata brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and glanced down at her phone.

"Is there a reason you keep looking down at your phone?"

Hinata quickly averted her gaze from the small device, as if a child caught red-handed for stealing a cookie from the cookie jar.

"Ah…Well, I'm supposed to be meeting Naruto for Ramen at 5:30 PM…" She almost whispered.

Naruto? Sasuke felt a familiar tinge of annoyance tug itself somewhere near his chest.

"Naruto?"

"I've been helping him with econ and we usually grab ramen too…"

 _Beep beep!_ Both of them glanced at her phone. In the brief second that Hinata took to hastily reach over her phone and almost knocking over her hot tea in the process, Sasuke was able to get a glimpse of the phone screen:

 **1 Message: Naruto (:**

Sasuke rolled his eyes at the smiley face emoji—not that Hinata noticed. Her eyes were fixated on her device and her fingers tapping quickly to open the message. Her excited eyes quickly dropped as she read the message.

"Hey, Hinata! cant make it to ramen today, ill treat you next week! sorry!"

Hinata felt her heart sink. She had been looking forward to dinner with Naruto for the past few days. The past week had been a bit overbearing and she was hoping to destress with tonight's dinner.

"What's wrong?"

"Huh?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes again. "You got a message from Naruto. And now you look sad. What's wrong?" He can't have a sad girl on his hands right now. They had a project to complete.

"N-nothing. Naruto just can't make it to dinner today…"

"You're upset over that? It seems like a blessing to me."

Hinata couldn't help but let out a giggle. "Ahh, don't be mean to Naruto. He's easy to talk to and it's been a bad week for me."

"Why?" Sasuke wasn't sure why he asked. The events of her own life had little to do with his, and he wasn't even sure if he was interested in hearing her story. It merely seemed to be the natural progression of the conversation.

"It's nothing, really. Just family and school stuff…" She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. _Family and school stuff. Sounds like the story of my life_ , Sasuke thought.

Coupled by the disappointing text message, Hinata took Sasuke's silence as an invitation to continue.

"Well, you see…my family doesn't really approve of what I'm doing in school and what I want to do in the future…It's so silly having to talk about this again. It really isn't even important. I already told Naruto this last week. And now I'm beginning to ramble…" She stared down at her cup of tea.

Sasuke was a bit surprised. This was the most the girl had spoken at one time, since he had known her. And she already told Naruto this? Why is he even important enough to tell? But he found his curiosity piqued. So he listened.

"No, go on."

"Oh…well I wouldn't even know where to begin…"

And so forth began the few minutes of their two-hour conversation. She must have forgotten her disappointment, if only for a bit, when she almost whispered about growing up as the heir to her father's company. And he must have forgotten the project when she mentioned the memories of her mother.

But both of them certainly forgot about the coffeehouse's hours of operations.

"Hey, you two! You're the only ones left in the coffeehouse!" A smiling Kurenai greeted them. "And as much as I love to have you, I have to close this place up."

How had the time passed? Sasuke felt as if the earth had spun a little faster for those two hours. Surprisingly, he didn't mind the sound of her voice. He didn't even mind her laugh. It might have reminded him of bell chimes. And as the two left the shop, he might have thought about their meeting the next week. And he might have thought of her laugh again before drifting to sleep that night.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Been busy, finally on spring break. I have just a few more months before I graduate, so hopefully I can finally write consistently. Thanks for sticking with me through all this time.

8/7-re-uploaded, fixed a typo

Three

"You know, Naruto really cares about you. He's a nice person."

Sasuke glanced at Hinata from across their small coffee table.

"Either you're spending too much time with him, or not enough. I can't tell which is worse."

It was their last meeting of the quarter and they were just finishing up. Sasuke ran a hand through his hair. The entire quarter had been more successful than he had originally anticipated. As her prior work showed, Hinata easily lifted her own weight during their projects, and even picked up on some of Sasuke's slack here and there—not that he slacked off, he just got a little tight on time once in a while. And he would have easily finished his fair share too, but she had offered and he…trusted her?

Hinata giggled at his reply. "Sasuke, you say that, but I'm sure you care about Naruto too."

"Tch."

"That's not a no." Sasuke rolled his eyes and went back to his work.

The two were once again engulfed in their small bubble of silence. The coffeehouse was relatively packed with students trying to cram the past few months' worth of notes before finals week. The aroma of coffee and small chitter chatter filled the air around them. From their past meetings, Sasuke was able to get a better grasp of the Hyuga. While the both of them usually worked in silence, she had begun to talk to him more and more after their two-hour long conversation a while back. Although he for the most part remained silent during her small talk, his small grunts and nods every while encouraged her to continue. Not that she had much to say, anyway. She would say a sentence or two, before the pair dissolved into their normal silence. And that was their pattern for the previous few weeks. Neither of them were talkers, and that was okay. With her, silences were comfortable, even.

Hinata tapped her pencil against the table a few times. She reflected back to the day she had disclosed so much about herself. She didn't want to admit it, but a small part of her would miss these little project meetups that they had. Not that Sasuke was good company, but it had been a while since she had someone to just talk to. She didn't know if he minded or not, but he never told her to stop talking, or that it was irritating. She didn't even need him to respond, she realized. His mere presence was enough for him. And with that, her thought drifted off to the boy of sunshine. Maybe she was the Sasuke to Naruto. Maybe Naruto just needed somebody to talk to.

"Sasuke, do you think Naruto and I are friends?"

Sasuke raised a brow. Her feelings for Naruto were all too clear. Oftentimes, he would see her after class waiting to greet Naruto, who returned her greeting five times more enthusiastic. But Naruto was like that with everyone. Sasuke brushed aside some minor irritation at the thought. It wasn't his business what she thought of him or what she expected to come out of it. He wasn't encouraging anything nor was he against anything. She just asked him a question and he was expected to answer.

He grunted in confirmation.

She almost didn't expect him to answer. But hearing this, she smiled and went back to work. And at that, Sasuke felt one of his heartstrings twang with guilt. That's absurd, though. He had nothing to be guilty about, it was just a question. He had no business whatsoever in whomever she was interested in, and whatever happens is out of his control or care.

His focus shifted back to her. He wondered if he would see her around sometime. Surely he would catch a glimpse of her head this week and next—the same dark-haired blob in the front row. The few times that Sasuke managed to succumb to a distraction of his mind or the external world, he often found his gaze on her head when he woke from his daytime reveries.

"This is our last project meeting together." The words slipped out of his mouth in almost a whisper, but she picked it out.

She smiled. "Yes, it is."

"Thanks."

"You too."

Maybe he would see her around sometime. Or maybe not. The latter thought picked at the same heartstring and he chose to ignore it.

-x-

"You know, Hinata, thanks so much for helping me with econ this quarter. I really don't know what I'd do without you!"

Hinata felt her heart skip a beat.

"I-it's no problem, Naruto. I'm glad to help."

Autumn had kissed Konoha goodbye with the last of the fallen leaves, and winter soon descended, enveloping the city with days of wind and cold. Hinata wrapped herself with her arms as she trailed behind Naruto. Despite a big puffy coat and a hand-knit scarf to match, she couldn't help but shiver at the needles of cold that were weaving in and out of her. But she looked up at the boy in front of her and couldn't help but feel slightly warmer.

Hinata scurried behind Naruto as the two made their way to the ramen shop. The two had just finished another study session and decided to follow up with their usual dinner. Hinata couldn't help but feel a tinge of sadness at the thought that their study sessions would no longer continue. Naruto, unaware that two of Hinata's petite footsteps were needed to match one of his own, moved forward with ease. He was going off about a wild story involving a lot of tequila, someone named Rock Lee, and a used car salesman but Hinata only heard bits and pieces of the conversation. Her mind was more preoccupied with stray thoughts of their friendship. Would she see him again? Or was he just a temporary prince that would exit her life once the academic period was over.

They had reached the all-too-familiar ramen stand sooner than she had expected. The two were seated at their regular table and Naruto jumped right into his parade of stories. Those that she had heard before, Hinata kept silent and nodded in encouragement. It only meant that she had more energy to focus on his energy and rugged features.

"Hmm, it's been five minutes! Where is our ramen?" Naruto pouted impatiently.

Hinata giggled. "Naruto, don't you ever get tired of ramen?"

"What! How can someone I consider a friend even say such blasphemy!"

Hinata felt a tingle in her toes at the mention of the word friend.

"We always eat ramen though…"

"It's not all I eat! I also love onigiris, cheeseburgers, and fried rice! What about you, Hinata? You must love ramen just as much as I do if you agree to come with me so much. What do you even like to eat anyways?"

"Oh, I eat anything. But I do love to cook and I love making onigiris."

"Wow, you're so talented Hinata! Smart and talented."

Hinata blushed at the compliment. "I-I can make you some sometime if you'd like, Naruto."

"Wow, that'd be great!"

Hinata's thoughts drifted aside just as their ramen arrived. They were friends. Of course they would see each other again.

"Hey, Naruto?"

"Mphh-yeah?" He responded between slurps of ramen.

"I have some free time this week and I can help you with econ one last time before the final."

"Wow, thad' be great!"

Hinata chest fluttered with warmth. They would see each other again.

-x-

Hinata nervously fidgeted with her fingers as she tried not to stare at the blonde in front of her. He was doing the final problem in their practice set and the struggle was clear in his intense staring at the paper and desperate erasing. But his struggle was just another thing to be admired. Hinata admired his willingness to persevere despite his weakness. She admired that he never gave up despite his disgust for the subject. Hinata peeked over at a plastic bag to her left. She hoped that he would like them. Inside the plastic bag was a bento box consisting of four laboriously handcrafted onigiris. She had woken up early that morning to craft them. She had even cut the pickled radishes into sun-shaped, bite-sized pieces. Would he like them?

"Hey, N-naruto?"

"Yeah?" Naruto looked up from the work.

"I-I made—"

 _Beep beep!_

"Oh, hold on Hinata! I lost track of the time!"

Naruto reached frantically in his pants pocket and pulled out his cellphone. Furious fingers started typing away.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah! I have a date today and I almost lost track of time with this problem set."

"D-date?" Hinata felt as if her lungs had been sealed into the bento box next to her and that the air-tight container was slowly suffocating her.

Naruto grinned. "Yeah, I told her I would be at the library studying but I'm supposed to meet her in about 5 minutes. Anyways, sorry to cut this study session short, Hinata. I totally forgot to mention it earlier."

Hinata as if a needle had been slowly inserted into her heart, pricking its way deeper and deeper as the seconds had passed.

"A-ah, i-it's no prob—"

"Naruto?" A voice chimed from behind her seat.

"Oh! You found me! Hinata, this is Sakura!"

Hinata turned around and surprised lavender eyes met ones of bright emerald green. She was of a petite build, with pale pink hair that complimented her name nicely. A small identification card was clipped to her belt with the label "Surgical Unit" in red. She was beautiful.

"She's a med student here." Naruto's voice brought Hinata back from gazing at the girl behind her. Hinata couldn't help but to follow Naruto's gaze to Sakura. If he was the sun, then she was his sky. The intensity in his eyes promised nothing but devotion, and she sensed its compliment in the pink-haired beauty. The needle pushed in deeper.

"Hello, nice to meet you. Naruto has told me all about you." Her voice was the sound of wind. The needle began threading through her heart.

"H-hi. It's nice to meet you too." Hinata swallowed the lump she had unknowingly been holding in her throat.

"Hinata, thanks so much for your help! We have to get going but I'll see you soon, alright? Good luck with the final, but I know you won't need it!"

"Y-yeah. Good luck to you too." The threads began to pull tighter.

Sakura gave a wave of her hand, and Hinata watched as the two turned the corner.

The threads squeezed painfully with every pump of her heart.

Feeling her eyes water, Hinata took a deep breath. She had been silly. What had she expected between them? Naruto was a great friend and he probably didn't treat her with special attention. She had only known the man for a few weeks, after all. It was just a silly crush. Maybe she was just lonely. Maybe she just needed someone to talk to. Perhaps, in another alternate universe, they would be together. But the love she saw in his eyes was brighter than the sun that lived within him, and through heartbroken lenses she could wish them nothing but the utmost happiness that they were surely destined for.

Hinata wished for nothing more than to disappear from the face of the earth at this time. He wished to never see the boy of sunshine again, who unknowingly singed her porcelain skin. But they were friends, so of course they would see each other again.

-x-

It was the last week of class before finals week and Sasuke walked briskly through campus, eager to escape the cold and into the temporary protection of his car.

There she was, in the usual puffy coat and hand-knit scarf that he so often saw her wearing during the more unforgiving days. She held a plastic food container in her hands. Sasuke couldn't help but stare a bit longer at the tint of pink that dusted her pale cheeks. She must have been cold and he couldn't help but wonder as to why she would be out here of all places when warmth was just a few minutes away. The library was just a short walking distance away.

Unable to control the movement of his own feet, he found himself approaching her. He stopped in front of her but she seemed not to notice, only staring at the plastic container before her. Sasuke coughed to get her attention.

"What are you doing out here in the cold?"

She didn't reply and the only notice that she had heard him were her eyes fluttering upwards to meet his for a moment, before drifting back to the bento box before her.

"Hey, answer me."

Sasuke saw the quivering of her bottom lip before the first teardrop hit the bento box. And for the first time in his adult life, he felt as if his heart was connected to that single teardrop-as if its splattering across the pink plastic of the container shattered his very being. And his body moved of its own accord when he found his arms wrapped around the crying puffball and her head tucked into the nape of his neck. And never in his adult life did he remember initiating contact with another human being, but here he was, holding her in the freezing cold. And for a reason that he himself could not even put into words. She didn't let go of the bento box while she hung limply into his form. Sasuke almost felt as if he had done something wrong, until she leaned into him and let the sobs flow freely.

As she trembled in his arms, he looked up at the sunset lighting up the weary campus. Something landed on top of her head and he softly blew it off. It was a pink petal. It seemed that the sakura blossoms had bloomed early this year, and they were the most beautiful shade of pink.


End file.
